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Post by bboat11 on Dec 30, 2020 0:41:55 GMT -5
I guess I ought to try to go to bed. I can't rehearse tomorrow any longer in my head. He'll walk in so nonchalant, as if he'd never gone. They'll be glad to see him; I'll be barely hanging on. And just like that he'll go and turn my whole world upside down. Santa Claus is coming back to town.
10. "Santa Claus Is Coming Back To Town"
Track 7 Runtime: 3:35
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Post by bboat11 on Dec 30, 2020 0:47:21 GMT -5
We kick off reveals for this album with one of the most heartbreaking songs on the album :'( "Santa Claus Is Coming Back To Town" tells an absolute gut-puncher of a story where Reba and her husband split up, but the husband always dressed up as Santa Claus to surprise the children on Christmas morning, and so she has to suck up the tension and her hurt feelings to welcome him happily back into the home for the sake of the kids... Without a doubt one of the most brilliant concepts for a Christmas song I have ever heard. It's as effortlessly powerful as all of Reba's best regular work. Melodically, however, it is definitely one of the least memorable songs on the album, despite the killer concept. That was why it ended up in my own bottom 2, and undoubtedly played a factor in it receiving four last place ranks. The rankdown starts on a sour note for .indulgecountry, unfortunately, who loses his #2 right off the bat.
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.indulgecountry
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"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
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Post by .indulgecountry on Dec 30, 2020 0:53:31 GMT -5
What in the actual world... this song reads like a classic country song, except that it has 'Santa Claus' in the title tying it to Xmas. But if it had just been a divorce anthem then y'all probably would've creamed over this one. I can't @ this injustice.
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Post by bboat11 on Dec 30, 2020 2:11:32 GMT -5
And as I watched those innocent children, I felt the greatness of that holy night. And for a moment I was right there with those wise men. So overwhelmed with love and light, I had to cry when the angels sang.
9. "The Angels Sang"
Track 6 Runtime: 3:45
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Post by bboat11 on Dec 30, 2020 2:18:06 GMT -5
Bowing out next is "The Angels Sang". .indulgecountry once again suffers a painful top 5 loss, but this time he is not the highest, as RobbyFlorida earns an early top 3 loss. "The Angels Sang" is a beautiful song about Reba being so caught up in the stress of the holiday season that the whole thing feels like a bother, and she nearly misses her son's elementary school recital 'cause she's so busy shopping and trying to get everything done. However, she makes it, and is overwhelmed with the holy spirit and the true meaning of the holiday as she sees the children singing. It sounds cheesy I know, especially when you throw in the fact that it has a literal children's choir in the background, but for some reason it all comes together to create a pretty great song imo. I definitely enjoy how unique this song is on my Christmas playlists around this time of year!
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Post by someguy on Dec 30, 2020 9:07:15 GMT -5
Good start so far. I really like “The Angels Sang”, but it is near the bottom of the album for me.
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Post by castleoblivion26 on Dec 30, 2020 9:28:36 GMT -5
definitely not the two songs I thought would be the bottom 2. Not upset about "Santa Claus Is Coming Back To Town" but "The Angels Sang" deserved better for sure.
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taylor
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Post by taylor on Dec 30, 2020 11:23:14 GMT -5
What in the actual world... this song reads like a classic country song, except that it has 'Santa Claus' in the title tying it to Xmas. But if it had just been a divorce anthem then y'all probably would've creamed over this one. I can't @ this injustice. I was gut-punched by this one and absolutely had to have it in my Top 5. I can't believe these heathens.
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Post by bboat11 on Dec 31, 2020 11:40:10 GMT -5
I saw Mama kissing Santa Claus Underneath the mistletoe last night. She didn't see me creep Down the stairs to have a peep. She thought that I was tucked up in my bedroom fast asleep! Then I saw Mama tickle Santa Claus Underneath his beard so snowy white. Oh, what a laugh it would have been If Daddy had only seen Mama kissing Santa Claus last night!
8. "I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus"
Track 2 Runtime: 3:44
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Post by bboat11 on Dec 31, 2020 11:46:17 GMT -5
We resume reveals with the first of three Christmas Classics on the album. "I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus" has a really interesting premise, with a young child getting up in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve to see his parents in the middle of a holly jolly yuletide role-play session, but in his childlike naivety assumes it is his mother kissing the real Santa Claus. It's a cute song that is set up to make you feel like you are part of an inside joke that the narrator themselves isn't even in on.
Despite the fascinating premise, this has always been one of the more annoying Christmas classics imo. I do like it once or twice a year, but tbh I have never encountered a version that held up well to extensive play. That is until this year, of course! Dolly Parton's new one is really cute, and she has the perfect personality to make a naive child's perspective actually come to life like nobody else has ever been able to do imo!
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Post by bboat11 on Dec 31, 2020 11:53:04 GMT -5
If you offer the best part of yourself, Even when you don't have anything else Honest and true, It'll come back to you. Love comes back to you!
7. "The Secret Of Giving"
Track 8 Runtime: 3:56
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Post by bboat11 on Dec 31, 2020 11:59:14 GMT -5
I've gotta say, I was NOT expecting the title track to be as polarizing as it ended up being! People seemed to either love this one or hate it! On the one hand it sees our first #1 loss courtesy of Kris Kringle . someguy , ClevelandRox, and castleoblivion26 all helped give it an impressive pile of top 3 ranks. On the other hand, sbp17 , taylor , and tim all worked together to put it in their bottom 3, with .indulgecountry losing his last place. I have always really loved Reba's vocal here. Especially in the 3rd chorus, after there's a key change and she cracks her voice in the middle of "Whoever you are" The melody also gets stuck in your head very easily. I thought this would be a top 5 contender for sure, but unfortunately it proved to be way too polarizing.
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Post by bboat11 on Dec 31, 2020 12:05:02 GMT -5
May all your sweet dreams go unbroken. May every wish you've ever spoken Come true. This is my prayer, This is my prayer for you.
6. "This Is My Prayer For You"
Track 1 Runtime: 3:40
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Post by bboat11 on Dec 31, 2020 12:10:50 GMT -5
"This Is My Prayer For You" is like the definition of a middle-of-the-road song for me. Sometimes I even forget how it goes from year-to-year. Don't tell tim, because he loved it enough to put it at #1... It is still pretty good though! Mid-tier Reba is still a huge step above most people's mid-tier! This song had a very interesting trajectory! You can see from the graph that it started at #1 thanks to Tim submitting first, and proceeded to fall a single position with every subsequent list until it turned itself around at #7 just past the halfway point. The result is an oddly linear line that looks hella odd in the context of a trajectory graph, where things are usually a bit messier or simpler.
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Post by bboat11 on Dec 31, 2020 12:12:03 GMT -5
Here's the top 5!!!!
Mary, Did You Know? One Child, One Day This Christmas Til The Season Comes ‘Round Again Up On The Housetop
How do we see this playing out??
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Post by castleoblivion26 on Dec 31, 2020 12:20:49 GMT -5
"Til The Season Comes Round Again" needs to leave soon, that one has overstayed. Sorry tim for not liking "This Is My Prayer For You" but I could not get into it at all. Maybe next year I'll give it another listen and see if I feel differently towards it
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Post by someguy on Dec 31, 2020 12:35:25 GMT -5
Two big losses there. "The Secret Of Giving" and "This Is My Prayer For You" are my favourite original songs from this album. I wish they would release The Secret Of Giving on DVD. I have an old VHS copy somewhere, but that would be a nice one to have to watch again properly.
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Post by tim on Dec 31, 2020 20:04:40 GMT -5
Well at least some of y'all liked "This Is My Prayer For You"! This has always been my favorite song from the album and is actually about the only Christmas song I ever revisit from Reba. I am a bit taken aback that some of y'all consider this rather middle-of-the-road because I find something quite refreshing about it. Anyways, we all have different tastes in what we like to hear for the holidays!
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Post by bboat11 on Jan 2, 2021 23:42:38 GMT -5
Well, I didn't quite finish all my Christmas stuff by the new year, but I sure came close! And I'm gonna go ahead and finish this one right now To kick off the top 5, we will be losing the song with the most #1s!! Literally more than 1/3 of us ranked the next song at #1...
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Post by bboat11 on Jan 2, 2021 23:56:06 GMT -5
A small white church, a mountainside, Cathedrals filled with music and golden light. Oh, we gather everywhere For the peace that's always there, For the story that is told Of a birth so long ago.
5. "One Child, One Day"
Track 3 Runtime: 3:31
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Post by bboat11 on Jan 3, 2021 0:07:24 GMT -5
Whew, take a minute to absorb that trajectory graph, and who ranked this song where they did. Friendships were about to be LOST, folks!!! This song has always been far and above my favorite on this album, and yet a series of last place ranks right off the bat set it up for a rough start. So rough that it was in last place for nearly the entire first half of the submission process. A #1 from .indulgecountry was not even enough to take it out of last place. However, he did the work to close the gap such that the next #1 from myself bumped it all the way up to the top 5. RobbyFlorida and ClevelandRox also came through with #1 ranks at the end, helping it to finally become a pretty strong top 5 contender. It's always interesting to ponder how things might have been different if people submitted their lists in a different order. Like, if these lists had come in a little bit different order, this song could have easily been the #1 contender for more than half the submission process, only to gradually lose ground and nearly fall out of the top 5. Just a weird thought I just had, lol. Anyway, I have always loved the vibe of this one. The ballad-like verses make it seem like it is going to be a slow, introspective song about the reason for the season. However, as soon as the chorus hits, the song takes on a whole new personality, and it is like an uptempo celebration sent from heaven above! That juxtaposition between the verses and choruses has always kept me fascinated from a musical theory perspective. I also love Reba's vocal here. This one fills me with a warmth and joy that is not usually captured by the average Christmas hymn. tim told me that he hated it because it reminds him of what you might hear folks singing in a mega-church I literally cannot.
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Post by bboat11 on Jan 3, 2021 0:14:05 GMT -5
May the new year be blessed with good tidings 'Til the next time I see you again. We'll all join hands and remember this moment, And we'll love and we'll laugh in the time that we have, 'Til the season comes 'round again.
4. "'Til The Season Comes 'Round Again"
Track 10 Runtime: 3:35
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Post by bboat11 on Jan 3, 2021 0:19:51 GMT -5
"'Til The Season Comes 'Round Again" was a very consistent performer here. It managed to stay in the top 5 for the entire rankdown, but was a top 3 contender more often than not. And I am not at all surprised to see this do so well! This song has always been one that invokes a lot of nostalgia just with the way the melody and lyrics sound together. It was also made pretty famous by Vince Gill earlier in the '90s, so it is one that many of us might have recognized even if we hadn't heard Reba's before. The only reason it's as low as #8 on my list is because I enjoy the album so much!
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Post by tim on Jan 3, 2021 0:20:09 GMT -5
tim told me that he hated it because it reminds him of what you might hear folks singing in a mega-church I literally cannot. It’s exactly what I’d expect to hear from the Hillsong United band of the Hillsong Church. I just can’t with this song at all.
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Post by bboat11 on Jan 3, 2021 0:22:45 GMT -5
tim told me that he hated it because it reminds him of what you might hear folks singing in a mega-church I literally cannot. It’s exactly what I’d expect to hear from the Hillsong United band of the Hillsong Church. I just can’t with this song at all. You still haven't explained how that's a bad thing though! Lol. I'd rather listen to people sing this fun jam in church than the 98,000th somber rendition of "Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing"!
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Post by tim on Jan 3, 2021 0:23:06 GMT -5
I’m ok with Reba’s version of “'Til The Season Comes 'Round Again" and I’m glad to see it do well here. That said, I much prefer Vince Gill’s over hers.
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Post by tim on Jan 3, 2021 0:32:19 GMT -5
I’ll take a guess and say that “Up on the Housetop” wins this. It was the one song going into this that I thought might come out ahead.
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Post by bboat11 on Jan 3, 2021 0:32:49 GMT -5
Did you know That your baby boy has come to make you new? This child that you've delivered Will soon deliver you.
3. "Mary, Did You Know?"
Track 4 Runtime: 3:21 Songwriters: Buddy Greene, Mark Lowry
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Post by bboat11 on Jan 3, 2021 0:40:03 GMT -5
"Mary, Did You Know?" is another one that got off to a much worse start than I was expecting here. This has been my favorite version of this song from the first time I ever heard it. Reba really brings out all of the emotions in these lyrics. Every single moment of her vocal performance here brings out the power in this song. I especially love the way that she turns the bridge into a huge climax. Versions of this song that don't do that always leave me incredibly disappointed. It's the biggest reason why I hate Kenny Rogers/Wynonna's despite it being one of the more iconic versions. Dolly's new one is the only one I have ever heard that almost eclipses this one for me, and that is because she managed to turn the ending into a huge unexpected climax So Reba's has my favorite bridge climax, while Dolly's has my favorite ending climax 😂
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Post by bboat11 on Jan 3, 2021 0:42:45 GMT -5
Alright, here's the top 2!!!! How do you want this to play out?!
This Christmas vs. Up On The Housetop
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